M. Soundariya Preetha, Coimbatore
The Hindu
The Information Technology (IT) space in Coimbatore is expected to go up further in the next two years, pushing up exports, according to Ashok Bakthavatsalam, convener of the ICT panel of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Coimbatore Zone.
He said on Friday that the first wave of the IT sector arrived in Coimbatore with creation of infrastructure at various premises, including the Coimbatore Hi-Tech Infrastructure Private Limited (CHIL), Software Technology Parks of India facilities and Science and Technology Entrepreneurial Park. A number of independent companies had also started operations.
Software exports from Coimbatore now were about Rs. 550 crore and the figure would soon go up to Rs. 1,000 crore. However, this was relatively low as the other tier-two cities were already doing larger volumes.
The CHIL had created six lakh sq. ft of built-to-suit facilities at the Special Economic Zone. This could be scaled up to even 1.2 million sq. ft. It also had three anchor companies taking space at the built-to-suit campus. The annual exports from CHIL were about Rs. 100 crore now.
Growth in Coimbatore was likely to be more from the IT-enabled services segment. For companies in larger cities, moving over to Coimbatore would provide at least 20 percent cost advantage.
“We were in dire need of infrastructure, especially for plug-and-play operations. When that is created, recession has set in,” he pointed out.
What was needed now was constant awareness about the potential here. Coimbatore should be promoted as an ideal location for IT and ITES companies.
The Government should expedite works on the Tidel park here, he said.
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